Sadie
by C.A. Elenath
Summary: On one of his late night excursions, Hayden meets an intriguing lady.


** Disclaimer**: "Safe Harbor" was a short-lived series not owned by me, but it seems I am expanding its lifespan. 

Sadie

The young man stood on a corner one block and across the street from his home, nervously fidgeting with the pack of cigarettes in his sweater pocket. The box was nearly full, as he rarely ever smoked. Inhaling the musty gray swirls wasn't something he particularly enjoyed, but it was tempting tonight to pull out one of the little white cylinders and light it, to give himself a little distraction. It would help him concentrate on something other than the possibility of getting caught.

His father would probably ground him for life if he found out he was sneaking out almost every other night. His father would probably kill for being anywhere near a cigarette. For that reason, the young man held himself back. There was no point in giving his father that much ammunition against him.

He took one last glance towards the colorful neon sign that indicated his home, which suddenly seemed like a bright searchlight.

_Stop it,_ he scolded himself mentally. _Everyone's asleep. No one saw you, they never have. Stop worrying._ He wrenched his gaze away from the fluorescent lights and turned his head in the other direction. Headlights were approaching. His ride had arrived. The white convertible cruised past him to the end of the block, turned around, and drove up the curb beside him. The passenger side door popped open and he got in.

"Hey, Steven," he greeted the driver as he reached over his shoulder for the seat belt. 

"Hayden," Steven hardly glanced in his mirrors before peeling away from the curb. "I wasn't sure if you were going to show tonight."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Heard you were having some trouble with your old man."

"Yeah. School stuff. He'll get over it."

"That's good. Don't need him watching you like a hawk…more so than he already does."

Hayden groaned. "Don't even start, Steve. I don't need to be reminded of that."

Steven chuckled. "All right, all right. I'll leave it alone." He stopped the car when he came to a red light, but when he saw there was no other car around, he proceeded to make his turn anyway.

"So what happened with that guy you raced last week? I forget him name."

"Felix. Everyone told him he was being a jerk, that I won the race, even if only by a hair. He paid up."

"Yeah. But he wasn't too happy about it."

"That's not surprising."

"Nope. I think I'll stay out of that district for a while. He's got friends there, and I should probably give him a chance to cool off."

Hayden nodded and glanced back out the window. There were hardly any cars on the road at that hour of the night. A few minutes on the freeway took them into the next town and their destination—a rather disreputable bar called Red Harbor. The guard at the door already knew them by face and admitted the two without complaint. Inside, most of their usual group was already clustered around the two pool tables in the back, making bets with each other that never went through. There was also someone among them that Hayden had never seen before, someone conspicuously female. She wore a long black coat over a metallic, deep violet shirt; she looked up as they approached, and he saw that her eyes were the same startling violet. There was a chorus of _hey's_, some enthusiastic, some distracted, along with an order for a new round of drinks. Then one of the guys, with the tongue-twisting name of Ramchandani, led Hayden over to the young woman, who sat by the back wall, sipping a soda. Hayden noted that she was already looking at him. Indeed, her gaze never seemed to have left him since the moment he walked in.

"Hayden, I want you to meet Sadie. Sadie—"

"Nice to meet you," she said before Ramchandani could finish the introduction, and stretched a hand towards him, "Hayden." Her nails were long, but unpainted. Hayden shook her hand briefly.

"Do you play?" she asked, nodding at the pool table.

"Yes," Hayden replied. "Are you inviting?"

"Yes," said Sadie with a hint of a smile on her lips. "I have a game for you…if you're up to it."

Sadie must have known the secret to making a man do anything. Make it a challenge. "Name it."

"The rules are simple enough. Each of us picks a drink. The loser has to drink whatever the winner picks."

"That's it?" Hayden was almost disappointed with her challenge, which wasn't as exciting as he had thought it would be. Sadie's cryptic smile, however, said otherwise and managed to pique his intrigue. "All right then."

"Yay."

As soon as the other guys finished their game, Sadie rose from her seat and kicked them from the table. They grumbled good-naturedly and moved towards the tables near by the bar. She reached for the triangle and racked up the balls, then told Hayden to take the first shot. He did so and ended up claiming the solid pattern

She played at a level pretty much similar to his, but he got the feeling that she was holding back. The times she sunk the ball into a pocket, she did so with deadly accuracy. She might have wiped the table clean before he even got his third ball in. Whatever the reason, they both ended up vying for the black eight ball, and of course, Sadie claimed it with a loud crack of the cue ball. She smiled at him serenely afterwards. He tried to produce a mock scowl at her, but he couldn't be sure what expression really came out.

"I guess I lost," he said. She nodded, still smiling. "I guess I gotta drink, then?" Another nod as she led him to the bar.

Steven was smirking at them as they walked by, and Hayden gave his friend a rude gesture, which only made his smirk grow wider. Sadie reached the bar first and leaned over the counter to speak with the bartender, keeping her voice low so that Hayden couldn't quite make out what she was ordering. It sounded like some long, exotic name though, definitely not the mixtures he'd seen typically served. Curiously, he hadn't given any thought to the consequences when he had accepted Sadie's challenge.

But that was the point of these nightly outings. To break out of the little box that he felt his life was confined to. He felt incredibly sheltered both by his father and his small-town life, and felt it was time to get out from beneath their shadow.

"Here you go," said Sadie, setting a cheap crystal flute in front of him. The liquid inside was a deep maroon, appearing either red or purple depending on how the light hit it. There was not much of it in the glass.

"What is it?" he asked, and Sadie let out a name he couldn't even begin to pronounce

"It translates to 'Angel Drink'," she explained, a winkle in her eye. "I thought that was…amusing."

"I see," Hayden studied the glass again before taking an experimental sip. The flavor was sweet at first, but quickly turned tart in his mouth. "Interesting."

"The whole thing," Sadie insisted. He looked over at her over the rim of the glass.

"Why?"

"It's part of the game," she said simply. 

He couldn't find anything around that, and the flavor of the drink got to be enjoyable after a while. He finished off the flute beneath her violet gaze and though he wasn't aware of it, the drink had gone straight to his head.

"Not bad," he commented.

"You like it?" she said, looking mightily amused. 

"I like it."

She smiled. "I do too. It gets men drunk off their rocker with only one glass."

Hayden laughed. "And why would you want to do that to me?"

"I don't think you really want to know."

"I do."

Sadie seemed to consider for a moment, then leaned forward and said in a low voice. "Are you sure?"

He leaned his head closer and spoke softly as she had. "Yes."

"Okay." 

Her hand shot out and pulled him forward by the collar. Then she crushed her mouth to his. His small yelp of surprise was all but muffled by her lips, which tasted sweetly of the soda she had been sipping earlier. Only dimly aware of everything except her warm mouth, he leaned into the kiss, uncertain whether he was too drunk to stop himself or if he actually enjoyed kissing Sadie. She was certainly very good at it. Her grip on his collar loosened a bit when he responded to her advance, and for a few short seconds, she was the only thing that seemed real.

A loud repertoire of catcalls and whistles from the guys made her pull away and look up. Hayden sat up when she did, but it took several moments for the bar to come back into focus. He blinked a few times.

"When's the honeymoon?" one guy called from the back, who raised his beer in salute.

"It's called a room," said Steve with mock exasperation.

"You've been victimized, Hayden," said Ramchandani with a conspiratorial wink.

Sadie smiled, unfazed by the attention the guys had rained on them. "Fuck you all," she said pleasantly. The group responded with a chorus of enthusiastic cheers.

"Crazy bags of hormones," she said pertly, turning away from them and back to Hayden. "Ramchandani was right about you."

"What did he say?" Hayden asked curiously.

"That you're cute. And that I would like you. I do like you."

He was too drunk to blush at the compliment. But at that moment, it felt nice to be single for a change. "I like you, too."

"You do?" she asked imploringly, looking straight in his eyes. He didn't flinch.

"Yes."

"That's nice," she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Unfortunately, I've got to leave now. But—" She paused and tapped him on the nose. "I may be seeing you again."

"When?"

"Soon," she said vaguely. "Or maybe not soon. I don't know. Don't wait up for me."

She slid off the bar stool and strode towards the exit. She never looked back once, even when some of the guys called goodbye.

Hayden continued to stare at the door even after she was gone, not quite sure what to make of the inscrutable Sadie. Ramchandani might have been able to provide more information, but when he glanced around the bar, he saw that the guy had conveniently disappeared. What timing. He sighed.

"Hey," Steven took the seat the Sadie has just vacated and glanced at his friend with some semblance of concern. "You ok?"

"I'm going to have a killer hangover tomorrow morning," Hayden replied, pressing his palms against his temples.

"You have that home remedy I gave you still, don't you?"

"That only works if I get to the kitchen before anyone else does."

"Good point," Steven glanced at the other guys, who had gathered around the pool tables once more. "It doesn't look like anyone has any interesting plans for tonight. Why don't I take you home?"

There was a faint throbbing in his head, which he felt with certainty would become a full out pounding later. It was probably a good idea to be in bed before that transition took place. He nodded his acceptance of Steven's offer.

"All right. Let's go."

The ride home went by in a blur. Hayden rolled his window all the way down, the cool air helping to clear his head just a little. Steven dropped Hayden off the requisite one block distance from his home, but this time he waited around in his car until his friend made it to the front lot. Hayden waved him off impatiently, and only then did he drive away. 

As Hayden quietly let himself into his room, he still felt a bit restless. The night was still young, after all, and he usually didn't return this early. But the throbbing in his head, which by now had grown a bit more intense, wouldn't allow for any more activity tonight. He collapsed onto his bed gratefully, asleep almost as soon as his head hit the mattress. His last thought before he drifted off was of Sadie, if he would really see her again.


End file.
